Now that you have carefully crafted your proposal and the price of the sponsorship, it is time to make your presentation. All the information you gathered in the first meeting has been included in “The Proposal.”

For many people this is almost as difficult as giving a speech. Here is one thing that I can absolutely guarantee will happen: NO
matter how many times you choreograph the presentation, it WON’T play out exactly as you planned. And I think that is actually a
good thing, because it forces the presenter to be themselves and not some robotic orator.

So much happens during the start of any meeting that dictates the flow of your presentation. A new person may be in
attendance as part of the corporation’s staff who you know or who knows you or a member of your family, is a m...

At some point you have to put a price to the proposal. Pricing is so subjective and relative to the specific market. Furthermore, many organizations struggle with sponsorship pricing because many traditional pricing methods simply don’t apply in the non-profit, collegiate and/or high school athletic world. Bluntly speaking, pricing is more art than science.
Accordingly, my experience tells me that most non-profit and athletic corporate sponsorship proposals are underpriced. There are a number of reasons for this, but the most common culprit is that most organizations set their sponsorship prices based on the amount needed to cover their costs and NOT on how much they need to make or net.

Here are a couple tips to effectively price your sponsorship:

Look to your neighbor-People g...

There are a number of ways to craft a perfect sponsorship proposal but in every successful proposal, the following points are consistent:

The Cover Letter

I put a lot of emphasis on the Cover Letter for two reasons:

1. No matter how you cut it, a sponsorship sale must have value but it is still a “relationship sell.” The Cover Letter allows the presenting organization the opportunity to put the value of the relationship in writing, at which time you are able to spell out the ways the sponsorship will be mutually beneficial to both parties.

2. The Cover Letter on your association’s letterhead portrays the class and legitimacy of your organization and most assuredly will be copied and shown to others who are in the decision-making circle. It also sets the tone of the presentat...